Running From the Silence
by revivingophelia
Summary: Just as Kaitlyn reaches the high point of her career, she realizes that things aren't always as they seem. 1/14/13 RAW. Kaitlyn/not yet revealed, Eve/Seth Rollins, possible others.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Running From the Silence

Author: Karen U/revivingophelia

Pairing/Character: Kaitlyn, Eve Torres. There will be at least two major pairings in this fic (Eve and Kaitlyn will each get a pairing), and possibly a third. I'm just not quite ready to reveal them yet.

Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me

Rating: R/M

Summary: Just as Kaitlyn reaches the high point of her career, she starts to realize that things aren't always as they seem.

Spoilers: 1/14/13 RAW

Warnings: language, violence, adult situations.

Title comes from the song 'Machine' by Missing Hours.

Part One

She stared down at the title in her hands, more than a little awed that she was actually holding it not because someone was letting her hold it, but because she'd actually won it. Back when they'd been friends, AJ had always joked that she'd be the first one to hold the title, not Kaitlyn... But that was a long time ago now, and AJ was off making her way through half the roster and seemingly settled on Dolph Ziggler right now and Kaitlyn... Well, Kaitlyn was the new diva's champion.

"Holy shitballs," she muttered to herself, clutching the title tightly to her, shaking her head almost in disbelief. And it wasn't that she didn't think she was capable. She knew she was. It was just that Eve Torres seemed to have one hell of a knack for keeping the title over her own shoulder.

Shaking her head, the woman rose to her feet, making her way over to the locker that she'd claimed for herself. Tugging out her bag, figuring that she may as well shower and change back into her street clothes quickly so that she could spend more time admiring her new title, the Houston native frowned when a carefully folded sheet of light green notebook fell at her feet. Bending down, she picked it up, noting that her name had been carefully written on the back of it, Kaitlyn quickly opening the paper and reading what it said.

_'Kaitlyn..._

_Congratulations on the title. In your own hometown, too! That just makes it even more special. And here's the deal: being the champion, carrying the title belt? It *is* special. Everyone wants to be the champion._

_And now you are._

_Relish the moment, but don't relish it for too long. There's always someone out there wanting to take you down, and it may not be who you expect it to be. Your friends? Well, if a title belt's involved, they may not be your friends anymore. Watch your back, because no one else will do it for you. To borrow a line from Stone Cold Steve Austin - Don't Trust Anyone. Yeah, I know, it sounds paranoid and all of that, but unless you're a part of Lay-Cool, there is no co-championship, and everyone wants to hold the title. Your best buddy may just throw you under the bus to get what she wants. Trust me on this. Not everything is as it seems, and it's highly unlikely that anyone that seems oh-so-happy for you doesn't want the title for herself._

_Sorry to be a downer on what should be the best day ever of your career (so far, anyway), but it is what it is. You have a target on your back now, and it's pink and silver and says that you're the divas' champion. But if you keep your head up, fight as hard as you can, and heed my advice, I beliEVE you'll do just fine.'_

And that was it. The entire note. Definitely longer than she expected, taking up most of the page in neat, even handwriting, but there was a little something missing from it. The note wasn't signed at all, and the truth was, Kaitlyn had no clue how someone would have had time to write that much between the time she'd won the title and now... Not to mention slipping it into her locker before she got back to the locker room. Which meant that whoever wrote it had to have already had it done *before* the match happened or something. And what made things even weirder was that last line... Or maybe not the entire last line, but the word 'believe' and the way the last three letters were all capitalized and even underlined like they were important. And maybe it was just someone making fun of Eve's whole thing with the word and how she often did just what was done in this note and even called her fans BeliEVErs and all of that, but still... It was just... Strange. And if the person that wrote the note knew so damn much, why was she sharing the advice and saying not to trust anyone? If it was someone that had held the title before, one of the current divas... Well, going by the note, wouldn't it mean that the note-writer would be just another one of those people lining up to take the title from her?

"What the hell does this even mean?" she muttered, jerking a hand through her hair, wishing she knew who had written it... Feeling, deep down, that maybe she already knew who had. But why in the hell would the person that she'd taken the title from write something like this to her? It was a warning and a bit of a pep talk all rolled up into one, and Kaitlyn just didn't know what in the hell it really meant. It sounded like advice from someone that had been through the same thing and was passing on valuable information to her successor or something... Not like advice from someone that was going to be trying to take the title back at some time in the near future, and Eve... Well, Eve had a rematch clause and all of that, Kaitlyn was sure of it. Well, unless Booker T and Teddy took the clause from her or something, which was probably possible, even if it could cause a big problem since it was probably in Eve's contract that she was entitled to one-

"Oh, my God, I cannot believe that just happened! What a sore loser!"

Kaitlyn frowned at the sound of the voice coming from the hallway, easily recognizing Layla's British accent. The voice that replied to her... She was pretty sure it was Alicia Fox.

"I know. Some people just can't handle disappointment. And can I just say good riddance?"

"Ding-dong, the witch is dead! Or at least she quit the company. No more Eve... Oh, I just want to go and celebrate!" Layla declared, her voice getting farther away as she spoke, and Kaitlyn froze as the words sunk in.

Eve had quit. At some point after the match, Eve Torres had apparently quit the WWE.

Frowning, Kaitlyn looked down at the note in her hand, tapping the word beliEVE, and wondering what in the hell was going on.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer, etc., in part one.

Part Two

She tossed her stuff in the passenger seat of the rental car, not even bothering to pop the trunk to put her bags in there. She was still in her ring gear, though she'd thrown on her jacket over it, which at least meant her arms weren't cold, but her legs were getting a bit chilly. It didn't matter, though. She'd done what she'd needed to do, and now it was time to move on. It was time to leave before anyone caught up to her.

Heaving out a sigh, Eve Torres flopped down in the driver's seat of the car she had rented while she was there in Houston, the woman nearly screaming when she saw the reflection in the rearview mirror of someone in the backseat. She recognized who it was, though, and managed to bite back the scream, though her hand automatically went up to her chest to press against her now-pounding heart.

"What the- Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"It's not on the agenda for the night," the man in her backseat said, shifting slightly in the seat. He looked perfectly comfortable and as if he didn't have a care in the world, but she knew him well enough to recognize the flash of anger in his eyes. She was pretty sure he was less angry at her and more angry at the situation.

"What did you do? Break into the car?"

"I'm quite good at getting into places I'm not supposed to be in," was the reply, the man steepling his fingers together, then lifting his arms, resting back against the seat of the car, his head resting against his interlocked fingers. "What were you thinking tonight?"

"I was thinking it was time. That I was sick of being made the villain when I know damn good and well that I was framed. That I didn't do what everyone thinks I did. You knew it was coming. I didn't lie to you. To any of you. I told you I was going to leave. That I was sick of the bullshit."

The man nodded slightly. "You did tell us. And we tried to talk you out of it. We could have fixed it for you."

"How? By beating the hell out of anyone you suspected might have done it instead? Circumstantial evidence, a planted email that Theodore Long just happened to discover, and Aksana claiming I told her to do it... But never providing any sort of evidence that the text I supposedly sent actually happened. Everyone wanted to believe I did it, and so they believed it. I don't know who was in on it, and who was being screwed around with." She smirked slightly. "Even so, at least Aksana got knocked around a few times by Kaitlyn as payback. Of course, she deserved payback for the lies she told, not just..."

"We could always dole out a little punishment."

"You don't attack women, and you know it. It's not your MO. We discussed this back when you offered to make sure I stayed divas' champion."

"Yeah. Right around the time you told us you were leaving," the man said, then sighed, letting his head rest more firmly against his hands. He seemed calm enough, but Eve could see the occasional twitch, the shifting in his seat, and she knew he was agitated. She just hoped he wasn't going to blow a gasket and lose it completely, because she really didn't want to pay for the damages to the rental car if he did.

"This is about me. Not you. It's nothing against any of you. Especially..." She closed her eyes, heaving out a sigh. "How much does he hate me?"

"Hate you? He doesn't. He's upset, though. Thankfully, his version of 'upset' doesn't involve punching a hole in the wall and breaking his hand or something stupid like that. He may have kicked a few things."

"I told all of you that I was leaving."

"And he kept hoping that you would stay," the man replied, then leaned forward suddenly, leaning from the backseat into the front, his face close to hers as he spoke. "I could be angry with you. For disrupting my team. But your life is your life, and what you want to do is up to you. I understand your annoyance and anger over what was done to you. Unjustly convicted in the court of public opinion. No one willing to allow you to clear your name. Everyone thinking the worst of you. It was wrong. And you acted more than honorably, though I imagine few people have any idea that you kept dragging out your title reign until you reached tonight. You gave her the title in her hometown, and you know it, Eve."

"She beat me fair and square with that spear," the woman replied, her hand coming up to rub at the spot where Kaitlyn's shoulder had rammed into her stomach. Yeah, that hadn't felt good.

"You expect me to believe that you didn't see her sliding back in the ring after you tossed her over the barrier? I know you wear glasses when you're doing the whole business thing, but I also know you don't need those glasses, Eve. You saw her, and you knew what was coming, and you let it happen."

"I can't say that I knew she was going to spear me. She hadn't pulled that one out before tonight," Eve replied, not bothering to deny that she'd seen Kaitlyn slipping back into the ring, because they both knew she'd be lying if she did. The woman shrugged. "I had my reasons. I mean, of all the people in the division, she's the one that I'm pretty sure had nothing to do with framing me. I think she was duped, and she certainly didn't attack herself. She probably could have gotten the title from Layla easier than she got it from me-"

"Including tonight it took her six tries-"

"Well, I got disqualified in one and counted out in another... And one of them was a triple threat instead of one-on-one."

"You beat her on RAW a couple of weeks after Night of Champions, you won the triple threat that she was part of at Hell in a Cell, and you beat her at Survivor Series. She got plenty of chances right there. She just didn't capitalize on them."

"Yes, well, I'd rather her have the title than most of the others. I don't know who framed me, but I'm pretty sure she didn't cost herself her first title shot by attacking herself or faking an injury. She was just a pawn in the frame-up," Eve said, then sighed. "I should go."

"Which is a polite way of telling me to get out of the car."

"I could be rude if you like."

He smirked at that, then sighed. "You'll be at your cousin's house, I presume."

"For now. Should I call him?"

"Give him a few days to calm down. If he doesn't call you by then, call him. Maybe text him to let him know you're not ignoring him, just giving him time. I'll be in touch," he said, making a move to get out of the car.

"I'm sure you will," Eve replied, watching as Dean Ambrose left the car and made his way across the parking garage, the now former diva waiting until he was back inside the building before turning the key in the ignition and preparing to leave the arena and her WWE career behind.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks so those that are giving this one a try. :) For those curious, I'm getting a firmer idea on the pairings, and they should probably be revealed before too much longer. Eve's pairing is already decided for sure, and I'm about 75% sure on the other pairings for the fic.

* * *

Part Three

Kaitlyn sat quietly, the diva still holding the note she'd found in her locker, the woman having accepted the congratulations from the other women in the company with a smile on her face, all the while wondering if one of them was going to stab her in the back and try to take the title away from her. Not that she really blamed them for wanting to have the title for themselves, for wanting to be the champion... It was the 'stabbing in the back' part that gave her pause. A challenge and a hard-fought, fair fight was one thing. Backstage attacks and cheating were another thing entirely. It was one of the things she'd hated about Eve... Even though part of her acknowledged that, now that she'd held the title in her hands and known that, right now, it was *hers*... Well, she could understand retaining by any means necessary. Didn't mean she would attack one of her friends for the chance at it, though. She hadn't gone around trying to cheap-shot Layla back when the British diva had been the champion and she had been the number one contender. Of course, in the end, she hadn't been the one that Kaitlyn had gotten her title shot against. No, all of her title shots had come while Eve had been the champion.

And now, Eve was no longer with the company.

Frowning, the diva got to her feet, making her way over to where Lilian Garcia was seated on one of the benches, the ring announcer zipping up the boots she'd just put on, then carefully tugging her jeans down over them so that they fell properly. Kaitlyn figured that of all the women in the company, Lilian was the safest to talk to, if only because she wasn't a member of the division and she therefore wasn't after the title. As far as Kaitlyn knew, Lilian had never even shown an interest in learning to wrestle, instead content to be the ring announcer and sing when the occasion called for it.

"Can I talk to you?" Kaitlyn asked quietly as she approached, and Lilian looked up, blinking a little in surprise, then giving her a smile.

"Kaitlyn... Sure. Congratulations on the win tonight, by the way," the blonde woman said, though there was a tightness to her smile that made Kaitlyn think that maybe the woman wasn't entirely happy for her. Maybe she was upset that Eve had quit because of it. Whatever the case, Kaitlyn had come up to her for a reason, and she wasn't going to back off now.

"Thanks," the Houstonian muttered as she sat down next to the ring announcer, taking a deep breath before holding out the note she'd found in her things. "Do you know whose handwriting this is? I don't want anyone else to know it was left for me, and... I figured you were the safest person to ask."

Lilian's brow furrowed at that, the woman looking a little confused by the words, but she took the letter from Kaitlyn anyway, carefully opening it, then taking a moment to read it over. And while Kaitlyn had really just wanted Lilian to look at the handwriting, she also kind of figured that her own comment about not wanting anyone else to know about it had made Lilian want to actually read it and, well... She was the one that had handed it over in the first place and all of that anyway. Also, in order to actually discern who the handwriting belonged to, she had to look at the letter, and she was likely to pick up the gist of it then anyway.

After close to a minute of silence, Lilian carefully folded the note again, then handed it to Kaitlyn, a sober expression on her face. The new divas' champion frowned at her. "You know who wrote this, don't you?"

The ring announcer nodded. "I do," she replied, biting her lip for a moment, then heaving out a sigh and reaching over into her own bag, taking out a piece of paper that was the same light green as the paper Kaitlyn held in her hand. Lilian hesitated for a moment, then handed the paper over to the younger woman. Frowning, Kaitlyn flipped it open to read what it said.

'_Lilian-_

_I know, I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I'm just leaving like this, but you knew it was coming. Even if you didn't want to believe it or just thought it was me saying things that I didn't mean... I said I was going to leave, and so I did. It's just time for me to go. I know it is. I loved my job, I loved wrestling, but there was just so much that went with it that I hated, and I just can't put up with it anymore. So I'm sorry, but I'm really doing it. My actions are following my words. I'm leaving. Please keep an eye on my buddies for me... Especially Punk, because we both know he needs someone to look after him sometimes._

_I won't be at home for a little while, but you know how to get in touch with me. Call me when you stop being mad. (I'm sure you're not the only one I'll be saying that to.)_

_Miss you._

_-Eve'_

Kaitlyn stared at the note, somehow both surprised and unsurprised at the same time. She wasn't really surprised that Eve was the one that had written the note to her, but seeing the proof was still... And the way the letter was written. Clearly, Eve had been planning to leave. It was also equally clear that Eve and Lilian had been good friends... And apparently, Eve was friends with CM Punk as well.

Swallowing hard, Kaitlyn handed Lilian back the note. "I didn't know you were friends."

"Most people don't." The blonde shook her head. "I can't believe she asked me to look after Punk for her," the ring announcer said with a roll of her eyes. "Sometimes that man needs his own keeper or something."

"She said, uh... In the note, she said she wouldn't be at home, but that you'd know where she'd be," Kaitlyn stated quietly, and Lilian nodded.

"She did."

"But you're not going to tell me where that is."

"No, I'm not. Eve's my friend. She'll probably be upset that I showed you this note... Which is why I may not tell her. She'd probably also be upset if she knew I confirmed that the note you found was from her, too. I get that you might want to talk to her after what happened tonight and the notes and everything, but... She left for a reason. To get away from all this. So I'm going to let her."

"You won't tell her that I asked about her, will you?"

"That would let her know I'd talked to you. And that I told you that Eve and I are friends," the blonde woman replied as she rose to her feet, gathering her things. She gestured toward the divas' title belt that Kaitlyn had won tonight. "You had a big night. Maybe you should go and celebrate."

"Yeah. Maybe I will. It sounds like fun. In fact... That's just what I'll do."

Kaitlyn was pretty sure both of them knew she was lying.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Four

"So you finally did it."

Eve shrugged slightly despite the fact that the person she was on the phone with couldn't see her. She'd made it back to her hotel room, one far enough outside of town that none of the other people in the company were staying there, which was what she'd been going for. She'd quit the company; she didn't want to see her old coworkers and face their questions or taunting or whatever. In fact, she'd hoped to get out of the arena without having to see anyone at all, and she would have made it, too, if Dean Ambrose hadn't been waiting for her in her rental car.

"I guess I did," the now former diva said with a sigh, stretching out on top of the hotel room bed. She'd changed out of her gear before making the phone call, so she was lounging around in a t-shirt and yoga pants. Comfort clothes. "I said I would. I wasn't quite so dramatic as you were when you left."

There was a snort on the other end of the line. "It would have been funny if you were. Would have been funnier if you'd just locked in a submission move on Matt Striker and made him tap or something."

"Even funnier if I'd done it to Teddy Long instead," Eve returned. "At least I did get to slap the bastard."

"You still think he had something to do with the frame job?" the woman on the other end of the line wanted to know, and Eve heaved out a sigh, rolling over onto her belly, and propping her chin on her hand. The television in the room was on, the sound muted, one of the premium channels that the hotel offered showing The Hunger Games. As she watched, Katniss showed off her archery skills for the big shots, neatly shooting her arrow through the apple in the mouth of the roasted pig.

Sighing, Eve finally responded to the question that had been posed. "I don't have total proof, obviously. But I have plenty of suspicions. I mean, we both know he hates me. Everybody knows he hates me. He flat-out stated that if he were in charge, he would have fired me. He wanted me gone. Whether he had something to do with it or not, I really think he knew something. And whatever he knew, he used it to try and make me look worse." She made a face. "I wish I'd slapped him harder."

"If you'd slapped him harder, you might have knocked his teeth out. Or broken his jaw."

"Well, if I'd broken his jaw, then he would have had to write it down when he wanted to make a bunch of idiotic tag matches," Eve retorted, then sighed. "I did something that might be considered kind of stupid."

"Besides quitting your job on live television?"

"Excuse me? You quit on live television, too. Sure, you gave a retirement speech a week or two before your final match, but you did basically the same thing. It's not like I did it on a whim, Lita," she said, and the older woman sighed.

"This is true," she admitted, and Eve nodded decisively.

"Yes, it is. Anyway... Back to the point. I kind of left some notes. For some people."

She could practically sense the other woman arching her brow. "Oh, really? Who would these 'some people' be?" Lita wanted to know, and Eve sighed.

"Lilian. She was one of them. It was mostly an apology for leaving. And, you know, asking her to keep an eye on Punk 'cause we all know that he does some stupid things sometimes. I love him to death, but really... Sometimes he has issues."

Lita snorted. "That he does. Like when he thought he could help AJ and she ended up becoming his freaky stalker and proposing to him and doing everything in her power to mess with him. And, you know, everyone else."

"Well, at least she did push John Cena off of a high place at the TLC pay per view. I may still think she's an obnoxious little brat, but that was a good thing she did," Eve replied. "Anyway, I asked Lils to keep an eye on Punk, which she'll probably yell at me for later. And he will, too, if he finds out about it."

"Maybe. You know, you said that you left 'notes'. For 'some people'. Not just a note for one person. Who else did you leave one for?" Lita wanted to know, her tone a bit suspicious, and Eve thought she knew who the older woman figured it was... However, Eve had been smart enough not to leave a note for him because he probably would have ripped it up when he was in the middle of kicking things and being upset. Also, he would have probably thought it was a Dear John letter, which it so totally was not going to be. Because whatever the two of them had been dancing around for the past month and a half, Eve wasn't ready for it to end... Even if she wasn't in the WWE any longer.

"I left a note for Kaitlyn."

There was a long moment of silence. And then... "Could you repeat that, because I think my hearing totally fucked up and I thought you said you left a note for Kaitlyn."

"I did."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"Because I can be pretty sure that she's the one woman in that locker room that definitely didn't have anything to do with what happened at Night of Champions and after it. She didn't attack herself and cost herself a chance at the title," Eve said, feeling a vague sense of deja vu as she spoke, probably because she'd explained something similar to Ambrose earlier. "She was either a pawn in someone's plan to get rid of me, or someone didn't want her to get a title shot that night. Maybe both. It was just a note, Lita. I warned her to watch her back. That was basically all it was."

"It's going to make her ask questions."

"So what if it does? I'm not there anymore, Lita. It doesn't have an effect on me. It's over, I'm gone, it's done. So whatever."

Lita sighed. "When are you getting here?"

"My plane leaves pretty early. I should be at your place by noon or a little after."

"Just you?"

"As far as I know," Eve replied.

"Well, you know you're welcome at my place. As long as you want."

"Thank, Leets."

"Whatever. So... Should I expect anyone else to show up?" Lita asked, and Eve was silent for a moment, thinking about it. Dean had asked if she'd be at her cousin's place, and she'd confirmed it. She was sure he would spread that information to the people he thought needed it. As for whether anyone would show up or not...

"I don't know. Eventually? I hope so. But probably not for awhile."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow."


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Author's note: and Eve's pairing (which you've all probably already figured out) is officially revealed. :-)

* * *

Part Five

"She was afraid that you would hate her."

He looked up at the sound of the voice, turning his head to watch as Dean Ambrose approached. "You went to see her?"

"I waited in her car for her. Figured that it was the best way to talk to her without being seen," the man said, then shrugged his shoulders as he took in the destruction of the room... Mostly chairs tossed around, but a few other things littered the floor as well. "Not that it really matters now. Not anymore. Doesn't matter at all if she gets connected to us in some way. Seeing as she quit tonight."

"I thought she was just... Saying things. You know? She was pissed about how things were going, frustrated about the lies and all of that... I didn't really think she would quit. I didn't believe it."

"Maybe you just didn't want to believe it," Dean returned, the man reaching out and grabbing a chair from the floor, having to set it upright before turning it backward and then straddling it, resting his arms across the back of the chair as he looked at his teammate. "It fucking sucks, I know. I'm pissed that she's gone - at the situation more than her - and I'm just her sort-of friend. I ain't sleepin' with her."

"It's not just-"

"Yeah, I get it. It's more than just sex. You care about her. I'm actually kind of rooting for the two of you, which is weird for me, but there it is. I think she's good for you, and I think you're good for her."

"And now she left the damn company," he muttered, heaving out a sigh as he looked up at the ceiling, staring up at the dim lighting of the fixtures that were above their heads.

"Left the company. Didn't leave you. There's a distinction there, you know."

"Doesn't feel like there is," he said quietly, and Ambrose rolled his eyes.

"Dude, I cannot fucking believe that I'm doing this, but... Okay... Here's the deal, Seth. You have this thing with Eve. You dig each other, or whatever, and it's not just the sex, although I'm sure that's awesome and all of that. You have feelings. Newsflash, man: the feelings don't have to change just because you're still with the company and she's not. That's not the whole fucking dating pool for you. You want to date Eve, then you can date Eve. Her leaving the company doesn't change that. She didn't leave you. And for fuck's sake, now I feel like Dr. Phil or some shit, so please stop me," Dean said, his words actually drawing a little bit of a smile from his younger teammate.

"Yeah, well, you definitely don't sound like Dr. Phil, 'cause I don't think he swears so much... Or looks so damned uncomfortable when giving advice and stuff," Seth told him, shaking his head. "I just... Why didn't she come to me and tell me that tonight was the night? That it was now?"

"Maybe 'cause she figured you would try to talk her out of it... And maybe she was worried that you would be able to do just that. She loved wrestling. She's sick of the bullshit and pissed that people think she did something that she didn't... But she liked the wrestling part of it. Hell, she's psycho enough that she actually liked the administrative side of things-"

Seth snorted. "I'm sorry, but are *you* actually calling someone psycho? That's, like, the whole pot calling the kettle black thing, or whatever that old saying is."

Ambrose nodded sagely. "I am delightfully crazy at times."

"Nothin' delightful about it," another voice put in, and Dean and Seth turned their heads to see that the third member of their team, Roman Reigns, had finally come to find them. Or maybe he'd just come back after deciding that Seth'd had enough time alone to throw things around. Which, given the fact that pretty much all the chairs in the room besides the ones they were sitting on were overturned, well... It had probably been a good idea to make himself scarce while Seth was tossing chairs around.

Roman sent Ambrose a look. "Dude, sometimes you're just fucking crazy."

"This is true," Dean replied with a shrug, then frowned, turning his attention back to Seth. "Look... She quit. Nothing you can do about that. Although I think it says something that she probably didn't tell you an exact date because she was worried you'd be able to talk her out of it if she did. Also, one of the things she said to me earlier - after accusing me of trying to give her a heart attack - was to ask me how much you hated her. She looked worried about it."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her that you don't hate her, and that you were more upset than anything else. Which is true. Isn't it?"

"I could never hate her," Seth muttered. "Part of me even understands why she left. Having people constantly say she did something that she knows she didn't do... Of course it upsets her. I just wish..."

"I know. You wanted her to stay. Completely understandable. You wanted her close so you could have sex whenever you wanted," Dean stated, smirking when Rollins sent him a glare and flipped the bird at him.

"You're an ass."

"Pretty much. Anyway... She's not going home for awhile. She's going to be at her cousin's place. I told her to give you a few days to calm down before calling you, but she may text between now and then," he said, and Seth snorted.

"Dean Ambrose, relationship expert. That sounds like a load of bullshit if I ever heard one."

"Yeah, well, fuck you. I figured that it would be best if she gave you a couple of days in case you were thinking of saying something stupid as hell when she called you. This way, hopefully you'll take the time to think and won't make an ass of yourself when she does call you," Ambrose said, rising to his feet as he spoke, the man kicking a few chairs out of the way as he made his way across the room to get his bag. Seth arched a brow as he looked over at the other man.

"That actually is decent advice. Who knew?"

"Well, you know me. I like to help people," Ambrose replied, drawing a snort from both Seth and Roman.

"Keep telling people that, dude. Maybe one of these days, you'll have someone convinced," Reigns said, then shrugged his shoulders. "Come on. Let's get the hell out of here. No reason to stick around right now anyway."

Seth nodded, rising to his feet and going to grab his own things, then glancing over at Dean. "What if I called her? You think she would answer?"

"I'm sure she would. You gonna fuck it up if you call her?" he asked.

"Not if I can help it. She's what I want. If she still wants me... We'll figure it out from there. But I have to talk to her before we can do that."

"She'll be happy to hear from you. Or maybe you could just show up at her cousin's house. Give her a surprise."

"Maybe I could."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Part Six

Lilian Garcia made her way through the back, the blonde woman frowning as she considered what had happened earlier in the night. She'd seen the note that Eve had left for Kaitlyn - the younger diva had, after all, shown it to her - and it had made it all too obvious that Eve had stepped into that ring tonight intending to lose. She'd put up a good fight, sure, making it look like she'd wanted to win... And maybe deep down, part of Eve had wanted to win. Lilian knew the younger diva all too well; Eve had a competitive streak a mile wide when she stepped into that ring, and she always wanted to win. And if she'd planned to lose tonight, to lose and then to quit... It couldn't have been easy for her.

"What in the hell was that tonight?" a voice demanded to know just as Lilian found herself being yanked into a nearby locker room, and the ring announcer would have reacted with fear if she hadn't recognized the voice... Not to mention the tattoos on the arm that had pulled her into the room.

Turning a glare toward CM Punk, Lilian reached out and punched the WWE champion in the arm as hard as she could... Which, admittedly, probably wasn't all that hard because she wasn't a wrestler, but Punk at least had the decency to flinch at the move, the Chicago native reaching up to rub at his arm. He arched a brow at her.

"Was that really necessary?" he wanted to know, though he didn't seem particularly annoyed at her for hitting him.

"You just reached out, grabbed me, and pulled me into your locker room. I'm pretty sure that you got what you deserved," the woman replied, tilting her head to the side as she looked at him, and Punk gave a slight nod at that, perhaps conceding the point. After a moment, though, his expression grew more serious, the wrestler crossing his arms over his chest as he looked at her.

"Did you know that she was leaving tonight?"

"I knew she'd talked about quitting. I didn't know that tonight was the night," Lilian said, speaking carefully, not sure if she should tell him about the note that Eve had left for Kaitlyn, a note that had clearly indicated that her tantrum had been planned. That she hadn't really just spontaneously quit in a fit of anger. That she'd had the whole thing seemingly planned. And she definitely wasn't going to tell the man about the note that Eve had left for her. He'd want to see it, and he would not be thrilled to see that Eve had requested that Lilian look after Punk for her.

"We all knew that she'd talked about quitting," the man muttered, making his way over to the bench in the locker room and sitting down on, lowering his head into his hands momentarily, and Lilian heaved out a sigh before making her way over and sitting down next to him.

"Punk-"

"I never thought she meant it. That she was going to leave."

"None of us wanted to think that she meant it," Lilian corrected him. "I didn't want to believe it, you didn't want to believe it." She turned her head to look at him. "I have the distinct feeling that Seth Rollins *really* didn't want to believe it."

CM Punk flinched at that. He was, Lilian knew, one of the few people in the company that knew of the relationship between the now-former diva and the member of the Shield. "You don't think he knew?"

"I think he knew as much as the rest of us... That Eve was saying over and over again that she was going to leave, but that, just like the rest of us, he didn't want to believe it would actually happen," the ring announcer said, turning her head to look at the WWE champion. "If he'd known for sure, if he'd believed that she was going to quit the company tonight, don't you think he would have tried to stop her? Talk her out of it? Maybe even interrupt that backstage interview so that she couldn't quit?" Lilian asked him, and Punk heaved out a sigh.

"Hell, if I'd known she was going to quit today, then I might have interrupted that damned interview with Striker in order to keep her from actually getting to say it," the man muttered, shifting so that he could lean back against the interior of the locker behind him. Lilian reached out, let her hand rest on his leg for a moment in a gesture that was meant to comfort, or maybe let him know she felt the same.

"She would have just found another way. Eve Torres is nothing if not a determined woman. You know that, Punk," the blonde said, and the man sighed, jerking a hand over his head, looking like he wanted to yank a hand through his hair, though he no longer could since he'd pretty much shaved it all off several months before.

"Yeah, well, in this case, I'm not happy with her determination. We only started hanging out together again about six months ago. We were friends again, and it sucks that she decided to leave."

"Her leaving doesn't mean we can't still be her friend. It's not like her leaving was meant to break her and Seth up, either," Lilian said, then frowned. "Though I'm sure she's worried it will be the end of it. To be honest, I think him and the others coming up to the main roster is part of why she didn't leave before. She started talking about leaving even before Survivor Series. It slowed down once the Shield came to the main roster, but then... I think she just decided that now was the time. So she left."

"If she hadn't been framed for that damned attack on Kaitlyn, this whole mess wouldn't have happened," the man muttered, then sent Lilian a side-long look. "You think if we find out who really did it, she might come back?"

"I don't know. Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't. I'm not going to speak for her. But I will say this: we can't say that she hadn't been talking about it. A lot. And if she's our friend, then we need to respect her decision, no matter how badly we wish she'd stuck around," the woman told him, and Punk made a face.

"Having the voice of reason around sucks," he commented, and Lilian smiled, nudging him in the side with her elbow.

"I'm sure it does. It also sucks to be grabbed and dragged into a locker room. For future reference," she said, and he made a face.

"Sorry about that."

"I'm sure you are," she replied, then got to her feet, nudging his foot with hers. "Don't be mad at Eve. She left the company, not us. She's still our friend."

"I know she is. You think she's going to Lita's?"

"I'd bet on it."

"You up for a road trip?"

"Maybe next week," Lilian told him, then smiled. "Let's give Seth time to go and see her first."

He made a face. "The voice of reason sucks."

"Tell me about it."


End file.
